Phil Montgomery

Phil Montgomery is a former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, having served in that capacity for 12 years, or six terms, from 1998 through 2010.[1] After those 12 years, Montgomery retired and was named as the head of the Wisconsin Public Services Commission by Governor Scott Walker in March 2011.[2]

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

In 2005, Montgomery was named “Legislator of the Year” by ALEC. A press release written by ALEC regarding their choice to give him this reward praised Montgomery for “leading the fight…against government intrusion in the broadband marketplace.”[4]

A 2008 article written by Harvard College’s Nieman Watchdog revealed that Montgomery has been responsible for the presentation and passage of many ALEC-written “model bills” in the telecommunications area, as did a 2011 article by the Capital Times’ Judy Davidoff.[5][6] Montgomery is a member of ALEC's Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force.

Furthermore, according to One Wisconsin Now, a liberal advocacy group located in Madison, WI, Montgomery received the maximum amount of money possible from Koch Industries in the 2006, 2008, and 2010 election cycles.[7]

Montgomery also formerly served as the Chairman of NCSL’s Standing Committee on Communications, Financial Services & Interstate Commerce.[8] He spoke at NCSL’s 2009 fall forum on December 11, on a panel titled, “Improving Our 911 Systems.”[9]